One or more of these sentences to be said by

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Isaiah xxxv. 10.

Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. John xii. 24.

When this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory! 1 Corinthians xv. 54.

There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory. 1 Corinthians xv.

To be said by the minister

On this day we celebrate the coming of that great hope of everlasting life which shines through the Gospel. Believing that through Jesus the immortal world has been brought nearer to the hearts of men, we praise God for the assurance thus given that we shall not die, but live. As it is the summit of all human joy to know that the life of earth may go on into realms of endless love and blessedness, let us hold this festival with gladness and thanksgiving. Let us pray.

To be said by minister and people

together

Father of compassion and fountain of all goodness, we heartily thank thee for thy bountiful gifts to us and to all men. We thank thee for the blessings of health and strength, and for our consolations in time of trial. We thank thee for all kindly charities and pure affections, for the means of doing good thou hast given, and for the victory over sin and death thou hast promised us. Above all, we thank thee for the revelation of thy goodness, and for the love that governs all our ways. We therefore bless thy holy name, and bring our offering of praise and gratitude, praying that thou wilt establish us in every good word and work and make us worthy the love thou hast bestowed upon us. Amen.

To be said by minister and people

alternately

O God, who art Lord over all and within all, teach our hearts to sing for joy when our lips sing praises unto thee for all thy mercies. Banish from our souls, we pray thee, gloom, discontent, and fear, and make thy love of us and our love of thee to be in us joy, confidence, and full satisfaction.

Grant us, O Lord, to rest in thee, and in thee to have our hearts at peace.

O God, who hast made us thy sons, and heirs of eternal life, grant that having this hope we may purify ourselves, and become worthy of what thou hast in keeping for us.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see thee.

On this day which celebrates the power of the soul to outlast the changes of earth, and to rise victorious over the bondage of death, may our immortal being hear the call and feel its meaning.

Help us to rise from the death of sin to the life of righteousness.

Make us to know, and feel, that all thy children are precious in thy sight, and that they live evermore unto

thee.

There shall be no more death; and thou shalt wipe away all tears from our eyes. All glory be to thee, O God, whose light hath shined in our hearts to show us a way of everlasting life.

Blessed art thou for this light which no darkness overspreads.

Thou art the Lord, who hast shown us such light.

Thy mercy is everlasting, and thy truth endureth from generation to generation.

To be said by minister and people together

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RESPONSIVE READING

The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.

The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel. I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

For thou wilt not leave my soul in the grave, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption.

Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy. At

dear, in whose lives we have seen thine excellent glory and beauty. May we know that out of the body as in the body they are with thee, and that, when these earthly days come to an end, it is not that our service of thee and of one another may cease, but that it may begin anew. Make us glad in all who have faithfully lived; make us glad in all who have peacefully died. Lift us into light and love and purity and blessedness; and give us at last our portion with those who have trusted in thee,

and sought in all things to do thy holy

will. Amen.

O Lord of life, who dwellest in eternity, and who hast planted in our hearts the faith and hope which look beyond our mortal life to another, even a heavenly country, we give thanks to thee this day for the bright shining of the light of immortality in Jesus Christ. As he has showed us the blessedness of heaven on earth, and has called us into a kingdom not of this world, so may our life be made ever richer in the things that do not pass away. Raise us up, we pray thee, in the power of his spirit, from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. Prepare us to follow him, in hope and trust, through all the darkness of the grave into the world of light whither he has led the

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Almighty God, who hast given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee, and dost promise that, when two or three are gathered together in thy name, thou wilt grant their requests: fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of thy servants as may be most expedient for them, granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. Amen.

Then may be sung an anthem or a hymn, to be followed by the sermon, a congregational hymn, and the benediction

One or more of these sentences to be read

by the minister

O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever. Psalm cvi. 1.

Because thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Psalm lxiii. 3.

The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil, he shall preserve thy soul. Psalm cxxi. 7.

Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence with a song. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us and not we ourselves; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. Psalm c.

Praise waiteth for thee, O God of our salvation: who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea; who by thy strength settest fast the mountains, being girded with power; who stillest the waves of the sea, and the tumult of the people. Thou visitest earth and waterest it; thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God; thou crownest the year with thy goodness, and thy paths drop fatness. Psalm lxv.

O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. Psalm xxxiv, 3.

To be said by the minister

Let us adore the ever-living God, and render praise unto him who spread out the heavens and established the earth, whose glory is revealed in the heavens above and whose greatness is manifest throughout the world; he is our God and there is none else. Therefore we bow the head and bend the knee and magnify the King of kings, the Holy One; blessed be he.

Let us pray.

To be said by minister and people
together

O Lord our God, who hast bidden the light to shine out of darkness, who hast again wakened us to praise thy goodness and ask for thy grace: accept now, in thine endless mercy, the sacrifice of our worship and thanksgiving, and grant unto us such of our desires as may be wholesome for us. Make us to be children of the light and of the day, and heirs of thine everlasting inheritance. Remember, O Lord, according to the multitude of thy mercies, thy whole church: all who join with us in prayer; all our brethren by land and sea, or wherever they may be in thy vast kingdom, who stand in need of thy grace and succor. Pour out upon all the riches of thy mercy, and we will ever praise thy glorious name. Amen.